Filipino activists join anti-war protests in US

by Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

LOS ANGELES - Days after President Barack Obama unveiled his plans for the brewing conflict in Iraq, protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles over the weekend with a clear message.

"War has never done anyone good. It's always destroyed lives, destroyed countries, destroyed the definition of countrymen... There's nothing good out of any of it," Sarah Lee Samonte of Answer Coalition/W.O.R.D said.

Filipinos joined Iraqis, veterans, and families of fallen soldiers in national actions calling for US to stay out of Iraq.

This latest conflict between the Islamic militant groups and the Iraqi government comes as the US has continued to scale down operations in the Middle East.

As concern builds up in the region, President Obama assured Americans that he will try to avoid another war, which would be the third in 24 years.

"Ultimately what I think the vast majority of Americans understand is that we can't do it for them and we certainly can't redeploy tens of thousands of US troops to try to keep a lid on the problem if the people themselves don't want to solve it," Obama said.

Despite the President's statements, anti-war groups believe the deployment of military advisers would lead to more US involvement.